Today's Tips

Avoid These Time Wasters - 02/01/2011
If you are like most of us in the purchasing function, you would like to have more time. There just does not seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done that you would like. You can improve the situation by eliminating time wasters an...

Shop and Negotiate Now - 01/01/2011
Now is the best time to negotiate. It is easier to obtain concessions from existing suppliers when the economy is depressed and from new suppliers to make the best offers when they are hungry for new business. For many items prices are down or ste...

Shake Up Your Organization - 11/01/2010
When a company replaces a manager with a new person, he or she is frequently asked to make some changes. Improvements are expected based on the new person’s other experience and fresh approach. If the changes aren’t too radical, the new policie...

Make Your Deals Now - 10/01/2010
Companies may not be soliciting business during this slump in activity. They may have laid off salespeople and cut back on their labor force so they don’t need as many orders to keep afloat. They are likely to assume that buyers don’t have orde...

Making Supplier Qualification Easier - 09/01/2010
Interviewing and qualifying prospective suppliers can be tedious and time consuming. You can make it easier and save time by planning the essential discussions for all supplier meetings. Making a list of questions well ahead of time about the infor...

Make Sure You Have a Good Database - 08/01/2010
One mistake that small companies make when they start is to neglect establishing a database of their activities. The longer the delay in postponing the collection of data in an organized fashion, the higher the cost to the business. The need for hi...

The Compound Effect of a Price Reduction - 07/01/2010
The best buyers know that it is better to have an objective of lower costs rather than lower prices only. It is important to remember that lower costs can be achieved in various ways including price reductions. This publication has described the di...

Ten False Assumptions To Avoid - 07/01/2010
Those who may make the following assumptions prevent the best possible purchasing performance. In each case, the stated claim may be true, but it is just as likely to be false. Continual testing and comparison in the marketplace is the only way to ...

Never Assume You Have the Lowest Cost - 06/01/2010
Good buyers are proud of their ability to negotiate, and well they should be. The ability to negotiate well is a valuable skill honed by education and experience. But the danger lies in assuming you have achieved the lowest possible obtainable cost...

Try a New Approach - 06/01/2010
It is human nature to get into a habit of doing something the same way day after day, year after year. Most people drive to work by the same route every day. Most eat the same foods. Most read the same material. Few change their habits about entert...

Clarify Transportation Cost and Other Extras - 04/01/2010
Make sure you include all the costs when comparing suppliers. If you don’t measure anything but the product price you may be awarding business to the wrong supplier. Suppliers will frequently bid with a stated price for the product but be vague a...

Return Excess Inventory to Vendors - 02/01/2010
The usage of certain items, particularly MRO items, can change over time without the buyer being aware of the change. The change can be the result of different equipment being used, different employee preferences, and changes in methods. For instan...

Avoid the Free Lunch - 01/01/2010
The graduate schools of business and economics preach "there is no free lunch." Psychologists will probably agree that in most cases this is true. However, those buying the lunch or receiving it may not see it that way. Those who are buying may bel...

Frauds and Cons Abound - 11/01/2009
Professional buyers are expected to be on alert to cons and frauds, but it is easy to be taken in. Con artists, as the name implies, are clever in deceiving even the most sophisticated among us. Buyers are likely to be vulnerable because they are ...

Get Your Authority To Purchase In Writing - 10/01/2009
If you are a purchasing manager for an organization, when you were hired you were given authority to buy for that organization. The specifics of what you could buy and the amount you could spend may or may not have been mentioned to you. You may ha...

Combine Requestors' Needs to Reduce Cost - 09/01/2009
One of the advantages of centralized purchasing is to obtain a reduction in cost by combining the needs of more than one location. This provides economies of scale and allows the buyer to obtain discounts from larger quantity orders. But even if yo...

Always Have a Backup Supplier Ready - 08/01/2009
If you wait until your single source supplier goes out of business before looking for a second source it is usually too late to prevent a costly problem. Today more than ever, be prepared to change suppliers if necessary. Both personal and business...

Use the Preemptive Strike - 05/01/2009
Using a preemptive strike to avoid a price increase announcement can prevent one, but it can also initiate one. In other words, being proactive by asking a supplier for a price reduction or other concession may make a supplier reconsider asking for...

Placing Orders Is Not Enough - 04/01/2009
When managers in most organizations measure the performance of the purchasing function and the achievements of individual buyers, they don’t consider order placement alone. Almost anybody can place orders, even without much training. Placing ord...

Now Is The Time To Reduce Prices - 12/01/2008
The other day one of our members said he could not save much from his purchasing effort because of the bad economic climate. This buyer may have forgotten some of the principles of economics. Normally, when sales decline, business is more willing t...